Shugyosha

Hi Grey, The only thing I can offer is a reference in Markus Sesko's book on Tameshigiri (pp. 278 and 296) to a Murai To'emon Nagaaki working in Keian (1658-1652). Best, John

Hi Grey, I think it reads Futatsu do dotan iri: cut through two bodies into the earth mound (sorry I'm struggling to find the relevant kanji for this). A certain Mr Guido Schiller has a list of popular sword testers on the JSSUS website which lists a Murai Fujiemon 村井藤右衛門 (慶安 Keian). This might be your guy though the kanji in the mei get a bit unclear after the "Murai". Hope that helps, but usually someone comes along to correct my errors... Kind regards, John

I think it's what the man was looking at when he coined the phrase "bad swords hurt your eyes". Best regards,

Hi Justin, For the first one: discovering famous Japanese sword smiths: Nihonto no chomei to sho no mitokoro (I'm unsure of "mitokoro" exactly, but I think that "discovering" is the jist of it). For the second one: Japanese sword dictionary: Nihonto Jiten. Best regards,

Hi Ivo, The bottom line is that you are asking me to choose a lesser of three evils for you. If the best option - keeping your money and waiting a while, is not going to cut it, and there is no chance of seeing these swords in hand, getting better photos or getting a money back inspection period, then in all honesty you know as much as I do as neither sword is sufficiently well photographed to draw a sensible conclusion. All other things being equal, fake katana might be more desirable than fake wakizashi if that's what they are, so that might be the way to go. But seriously, you don't need to spend your money this instant - there is lots of stuff out there and you are swimming with the sharks right now. I've been where you are and bought badly when I was. Take your time, look at as many swords as you can on line and in the flesh and get a feel for what you are looking at. There will be a better option come up in the sales section of NMB sometime soon. It's a good place to start as you are likely to get something of far better quality than is available in the open market and the environment is far more benign. Whatever you choose, I hope it works out for you. Best,

Hi James, Whatever the arguments around form versus function and where this should begin and end, in reality, none of my swords have a particularly sharp edge and they were all polished in Japan and some by well regarded polishers (or at least in their workshops). So whilst I guess there was an element of surmise to my earlier post (I should have made clear that it was my own view), it was based on my experience and seems like a plausible explanation to me..but I'm sure there are others with greater knowledge or different views or who can otherwise add to this. Out of interest, I recently read Markus Sesko's book on the history and development of tameshigiri, part of which said that the main line sword testers would take a smith's polished blade and use their own techniques on it in order to ensure that the edge was as sharp and well balanced as it could be for the test cutting. If I remember rightly, he likened this to sharpening a cut throat razor where the edge is maintained through a mild abrasive and a leather strop. Consequently, it might be the case that it wasn't unusual for individuals to have their own techniques for getting and maintaining an optimal cutting edge beyond those applied during the normal polishing process...but who knows really? Best regards,

Hi Maximilian, The reason for this is that Japanese swords have evolved into art as opposed to being purely a weapon. Your sword, with its beautiful polish, does not need to have a razor sharp edge in order to show off the characteristics that make it a piece of art because it will (for which read should) never be used to cut anything. I think also that a togishi would be reluctant to remove more metal than is necessary for an art polish on this basis. If you are interested in tameshigiri, it is better to buy a modern sword made especially for it. That's a lovely sword by the way. That it was made in response to a commission probably means that it is this smith's best work and will normally be a cut above those that he made for sale "off the peg". Enjoy it! Best regards,

Ivo, The problem with buying from photographs, and particularly these photographs, is that they don't show enough detail. That may be because the blade is genuine but isn't in a state of polish to reveal the detail or it may be because the seller doesn't want you to see what's there and neither option is good. My bet is that it's a genuine Japanese sword because the signature and tang look a little too well done for a fake and the name isn't sufficiently big to make it worth someone's while to fake it, but I would also advise you to listen to Jean rather than me. Whatever the real answer is, it's going to cost you money to find out...if it's pretty cheap it might be worth a punt or better yet, you can save your money and spend it where the outcome is more certain. There are three things one should never run after: buses, ladies (or men depending on your preference) and Japanese swords...there will normally be another one along shortly. Best regards,

I'm not from the Netherlands and I'm stretching my linguistic ability to the limit but I think the seller is saying that the signature says Bizen Osafune Aramitsu. There is only a niji mei signature, the second character of which is indeed "mitsu" (sorry I don't know the reading for the first character is in this context). The stated length is 82 cm. It's not clear if this is the nagasa or the whole length (tip of kissaki to nakago jiri) in any event it doesn't look this long, but it's hard to tell from the photographs...so without elaborating further there is enough there to make me run away.... Best regards,

Bless me father for I have sinned... From my point of view it's paying more than I should have done for low-end, albeit genuine pieces. A couple I've now moved on at a significant discount and I'll probably end up doing the same with some better quality pieces later on this year that I've now outgrown as I'd like to make a quality purchase sometime soon. Oh and I've acquired what is probably a a gimei goto tsuba... Hind sight is a wonderful thing, and in retrospect I wish that rather than buy these pieces I had simply banked the money as I would have enough for a pretty good sword by now that I would enjoy far more than these pieces - but a chunk of money that size usually gets spent on something a bit more sensible than big boys toys so maybe I wouldn't. So my sage advice to beginning collectors would be to avoid the temptation of spending on lower end pieces as there is a pretty good chance that you won't get your money back. I like Piers' comments about paying school fees...almost everyone has had to pay some at some time in this hobby. Best regards,

After availing myself of Kunitaro san's polishing service, I have just received two swords from Japan to the UK by EMS. One was delivered without being detained by HM Revenue and Customs which was a nice bonus and the other was released after production of the appropriate paperwork evidencing ownership and posting from the UK...so it looks like this route is working OK at the moment. Both packages had the dangerous goods sticker on them when they arrived but I wasn't asked any tricky questions about importing weapons - the description of the items as antique and with the appropriate Harmonised Tariff Code seemed to be sufficient. Kind regards,

Hi Peter, Thanks for that. Mmm... The tsuba in your thread looks identical so it's probably not good news. Would you mind I contacted you by PM? Best regards,

Thank you Chris, I think your "guess" looks a lot better than mine. Hello Ian, I hope that you are well - I hope someone hasn't been knocking these off... Anyone have any views on its authenticity? Best regards,

Hi Louis, Please accept my apologies. I wasn't trying to be dramatic and had hoped that the emoticon might keep the tone of the message light... Many thanks for your PM. Kind regards,

Dear All, Can I please ask for someone to double check my translation of this tsuba: I'm reading Goto Kiyonori Saku. The only Kiyonori in Haynes that doesn't use this 則 kanji is H03309.0, but I've exhausted my reference material in terms of variant kanji for signatures and wondered if the two were actually the same. Many thanks and kind regards,

Louis, Sorry if I wasn't offering something suitable, but not even a "thanks but no thanks"? Kind regards,

PM sent. Best,

It's pretty much as Stephen described. I have a couple of swords in Japan at the moment and need to content myself with the odd small purchase until l'm sure that I've covered off the outlay there. Ed has a couple of lovely items on his website: a Yokohama Sukenaga Wakazashi and an o-wakizashi by Echizen Tomotsugu that I would be more than happy to have in my collection but it's just going to have to wait a while unfortunately. What's particularly painful is watching some of the great items that Marius offers so frequently slip past. I think I'm going to send him my CV in case he needs a curator for his collecton... Best regards,

Hi Edward, TER107 (15 pts) is a reference number and grading given in Hawley's Japanese Swordsmiths - sorry just saw you got this. However, I don't think that this is your guy. The kanji for "Yoshi" is different on your sword to the one listed in Hawley's. Smiths do occasionally change the characters that make up their name but that's exceptional. I've checked Hawley's and Nihon Toko Jiten by Fujishiro and can't find another reference to a Teruyoshi. Unfortunately, that's about as much help as I can be as my library doesn't stretch any further. Perhaps someone who has a copy of the Meikan can help or It may be that he is one of those smiths that escaped being listed in the Meikan - they do show up once in a while. Good luck with your search,

Maybe Toshu: 土州??

Try Echizen Shimosaka. Esshu is an alternative name for Echizen province. Your Granddad made a lot better choice than many other guys who took a sword home. Best regards,

Thanks to all those who contributed above. As usual, some insightful comments and well worth a careful read. Best regards,

Hi James, I'm torn between the desire to help and thereby improve my own knowledge and the desire to not make a fool of myself and annoy other board members. The first one won out, but the best I can come up with is: Omote: 白田山家前世侍?工不侍 Ura: 新納久仰乞萬?之 Omote: I think that the first four characters are a person's name: Shiro ta Yan be (or Yamaga). The next two: Previous age/ earlier times Then: Samurai...something (sorry, can't tie this one down) After that: work/ craft/ industry, non-(not), samurai. Ura: First three: new/ recent, deliver/ dedicate/ accept, long time Next: respect, beg/ entreat, (again, not sure of this one) Last: this Based on the above, and it is a bit of a long shot, but it is perhaps a sword that was given as a dedication by someone (Shirota Yanbe) seeking good luck (or in thanks for it) on a change of profession: samurai to non-samurai. But then again it could be a shopping list, a Chinese poem or a quadratic equation. Hopefully one of the native Japanese speakers will be able to help you out or you could try sending the pictures to Markus Sessko to see if he will be kind enough to translate for you. Whatever the outcome, I hope my feeble efforts weren't entirely wasted and thanks to you for posting the picture on the forum. Kind regards,

I don't think there's anything to understand. I think that the OP is simply a troll trying to elicit some kind of response.

Further to Jean's comments above, I was interested to see this Juyo Yamato Shikkake blade on the Aoi website which, to me, doesn't look nearly as good as the Tegai blade that just sold: http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-shikkake-school37th-nbthk-juyo-paper It may be my inexperienced eye or the photography, but the comparison seems to be an interesting one in terms of "kantei for quality" and I would welcome anyone else's views on the merits of one blade versus the other. Best regards,